A University of British Columbia Okanagan student who put out a call asking for photographs of bobcat and lynx this past winter is asking one more time for people to send more photographs.
TJ Gooliaff is a graduate student at UBCO collecting the photographs from the public to map the provincial distribution of each species.
“I think that bobcats and lynx have shifted their range in B.C. in response to climate change,” Gooliaff said.
So far the response has been great and to date he has received more than 3,000 photos from all across the province.
Bobcats have been detected throughout the southern half of the province, typically at low elevations, while lynx have been detected throughout the province, typically at high elevations as expected.
“However, there have been some surprises,” he added. “Bobcats have been detected much farther north than I expected, even in the Cariboo and Omineca regions.”
The UBCO study is in partnership with B.C.’s Ministry of Environment.
Gooliaff is seeking photos of bobcats and lynx captured by trail cameras, or conventional cameras, from all corners of the province and from all time periods to help determine the provincial distribution of each species.
The photos do not have to be great photography — they just have to show a bobcat or a lynx, or even just a part of one.
Photos can be blurry or dark and don’t even have to clearly show which cat species is present.
Photos will not be published or shared with anyone without permission, and photographers will retain ownership of their photos. The results of this study will be gladly shared with all those who are interested.
Please send photos, along with the date and location of each photo, to TJ Gooliaff at tj.gooliaff@ubc.ca.
